Content
- When and how should you cut boxwood? Timing and editing instructions
- When are the best cutting dates?
- Cutting dates in the overview
- Cutting boxwood properly - when and how?
- Which is why regular pruning is so important
- When and how to cut a boxwood
- Cutting boxwood hedge - That's how it's done
- When and how you shape a boxwood to the ball
- Rejuvenate older boxwood
- Tips
Boxwood can be cut several times a year
When and how should you cut boxwood? Timing and editing instructions
The common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) grows on almost any soil, as long as it is not sour. The slow-growing shrub likes the sun, but thrives in shadier locations without problems. He tolerates a frequently repeated cut very well and is therefore perfect for cutting hedges and a shape cut.
When are the best cutting dates?
Boxwood should be cut between late March / early April and July at best. If pruning is too early, the new shoots may freeze in late frosts. However, if the cut is too late, the young shoots do not mature and dry over the winter. For the pruning, choose cloudy days so that the shade leaves now exposed to the sun can slowly adjust to the new lighting conditions and not burn.
Cutting dates in the overview
Buchs cut them best on these dates:
As a general rule, you should make an appointment as early as possible in the year for the first cut, as this will make it easier to keep the Boxwood Borer in check. The pest hibernates in a fine web inside the boxwood and, assuming appropriate weather conditions, often starts eating at the beginning of March. However, if you cut it in time before the caterpillars hatch (remove the spiders inside the bush!), The danger is banned for the time being.
Cutting boxwood properly - when and how?
Boxwood should be cut back one or two times a year, if possible, so that it branches vigorously to achieve a compact, dense growth. Use a mechanical pruner to cut so as not to unnecessarily injure leaves and shoots. Always keep the tool parallel to the surface you are cutting.
Which is why regular pruning is so important
The secret of a dense hedge or a shape cut such as a ball or a pyramid lies in the dense branching in the wood interior and in the targeted juice jam in the lower part of the wood. For this you shorten the book several times a year during the first two to three years, but always leave a few centimeters of the new shoot. The barrels created in this way have a lasting effect on the juice flow and promote branching.
When and how to cut a boxwood
When planting the boxwood between November and March, cut all branches by a third to a half. If you've got the book with bare roots, you'll also need to take a few inches off each of their ends. The next pruning takes place in the following spring between February and March, when you cut back all branches by a third to a half. Then, in early spring, cut off the excessively long branches above young branches in order to obtain the desired shape of the boxwood. Also remove sick or dead wood on this occasion.
Cutting boxwood hedge - That's how it's done
The first pruning of the planned boxwood hedge takes place at the time of planting between November and March: larger shrubs are cut off at a height of 25 to 30 centimeters above the ground to promote branching at the base of the shrubs. The following summer, you cut the branches again between June and July, this time twice as high above the ground. Cut it short in the width; In this way the hedge becomes denser even before the onset of winter. In the following years, each year the shoots are cut off above ground level, first between May and June when the new shoots show up, and again between August and September. The bushes should be allowed to grow five to ten centimeters, depending on their strength, until they reach their final height.
When and how you shape a boxwood to the ball
When planting, between November and March, cut the boxwood branches 25 to 30 centimeters above the ground to a spherical shape. Shorten the shoots a second time in the same year, optimally between June and July. In the four to five years following, you will continue to cut the book to the ball - in May to June, when the first shoots are driven out, and between August and September. Every year, let the branches grow evenly in all directions a few centimeters until the desired size is reached. After that, you cut the ball book several times a year from May onwards, whenever the young shoots have grown five centimeters longer. So he keeps his spherical shape.
Rejuvenate older boxwood
In older book plants shoots often turn and form brooms. To rejuvenate, in the beginning of April, divert thicker branches to side shoots in the middle of the bush. Leave pegs to encourage new drives. Do not remove more than a quarter of the older shoots at once, leaving enough leaves to form reserves. If necessary, you will moderate the rejuvenation in the years to come. However, never make this cut too early in the year, otherwise shoots will dry up or even the whole plant.
Tips
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